Nigeria’s labour leaders have sounded a stark warning ahead of Workers’ Day, arguing that rising insecurity, deepening poverty and the collapse of formal employment are eroding workers’ welfare and weakening the country’s economic foundations.
At a pre-May Day lecture in Abuja, the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, said millions of Nigerians were trapped below the poverty line as quality jobs continued to disappear.
He argued that insecurity remained a central constraint on economic activity, particularly in agriculture and small businesses, where fear of violence has driven workers away from farms and markets.
“If we remove insecurity today, you will see food everywhere,” Ajaero said. “People will go back to their farms and move freely to trade.”
The labour chief added that nearly 90% of jobs in Nigeria are now in the informal sector — roles typically lacking pensions, job security or basic protections — raising concerns about the long-term sustainability of livelihoods.
While acknowledging the federal government’s reintroduction of gratuity payments, he warned that employment alone no longer guarantees dignity. “The issue of decent jobs is not just about employment,” he said. “It is about what workers take home.”
The president of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, Festus Osifo, echoed the concerns, calling for stronger solidarity among workers and policymakers to confront worsening conditions.
“Decent work is not negotiable,” he said, urging coordinated efforts to tackle poverty and insecurity across workplaces and the wider economy.
Delivering the keynote address, Professor Kunle Olawunmi described poverty and insecurity as direct threats to productivity and governance, warning that no economy can thrive on “frightened communities, hungry households and underpaid workers”.
Divisions and contrasts across states
The sombre tone at the national level was mirrored by tensions within state labour movements. In Edo state, rival factions of the NLC clashed over how to mark May Day, exposing deeper fractures within organised labour.
A caretaker committee led by Professor Monday Igbafen called for workers to boycott celebrations, describing the labour environment as too dire to warrant festivities. In contrast, a government-aligned faction led by Bernard Egwakide insisted that workers would proceed with celebrations at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City, dismissing the boycott call.
The standoff highlights broader strains within the labour movement, as economic pressures and political alignments reshape internal dynamics.
Elsewhere, a more conciliatory tone emerged in Oyo state, where officials praised what they described as a stable relationship between government and labour under Governor Seyi Makinde. The state government pointed to regular salary payments, a 13th-month wage and improved welfare measures as evidence of progress, while labour leaders acknowledged steps taken to address pension arrears and gratuities.
Politics and promises
Beyond organised labour, political actors also used the May Day moment to court workers. In Osun state, the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate Bola Oyebamiji pledged a “people-first” administration focused on welfare and economic opportunity, describing workers as the backbone of the state’s economy.
Yet for many in the informal sector, such promises ring hollow. The Federation of Informal Workers Organisations of Nigeria warned that more than 90% of Nigeria’s workforce remains excluded from basic social protections, despite contributing a significant share of national output.
In a statement, the group said millions of workers — from traders and artisans to farmers and transporters — lack access to pensions, healthcare and workplace safety nets.
“What is there to celebrate,” it asked, “when the majority of Nigerian workers cannot access basic healthcare, have no pension to look forward to, and receive no support when injured on the job?”
A widening gap
As Workers’ Day approaches, the contrast between official optimism and labour’s warnings underscores a widening gap between policy ambition and lived reality.
For union leaders, the message is clear: without tackling insecurity, expanding formal employment and extending social protection, Nigeria risks entrenching a cycle in which work no longer guarantees a path out of poverty.
